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先秦 Pre-Qin · 诗 Poem

抑

Admonition (Yì)

诗经

Shi Jing (Book of Poetry)

诗经Classic of Poetry 大雅Major Odes 讽谏Satirical Admonition 修身Self-Cultivation 政治Politics

抑抑威仪，维德之隅。
人亦有言，靡哲不愚。
庶人之愚，亦职维疾。
哲人之愚，亦维斯戾。
无竞维人，四方其训之。
有觉德行，四国顺之。
訏谟定命，远犹辰告。
敬慎威仪，维民之则。

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抑抑威仪，维德之隅。
人亦有言，靡哲不愚。
庶人之愚，亦职维疾。
哲人之愚，亦维斯戾。
无竞维人，四方其训之。
有觉德行，四国顺之。
訏谟定命，远犹辰告。
敬慎威仪，维民之则。
其在于今，兴迷乱于政。
颠覆厥德，荒湛于酒。
女虽湛乐从，弗念厥绍。
罔敷求先王，克共明刑。
肆皇天弗尚，如彼泉流，无沦胥以亡。
夙兴夜寐，洒扫庭内，维民之章。
修尔车马，弓矢戎兵，用戒戎作，用逷蛮方。
质尔人民，谨尔侯度，用戒不虞。
慎尔出话，敬尔威仪，无不柔嘉。
白圭之玷，尚可磨也；
斯言之玷，不可为也。
无易由言，无曰苟矣。
莫扪朕舌，言不可逝矣。
无言不讎，无德不报。
惠于朋友，庶民小子。
子孙绳绳，万民靡不承。
视尔友君子，辑柔尔颜，不遐有愆。
相在尔室，尚不愧于屋漏。
无曰不显，莫予云觏。
神之格思，不可度思，矧可射思。
辟尔为德，俾臧俾嘉。
淑慎尔止，不愆于仪。
不僭不贼，鲜不为则。
投我以桃，报之以李。
彼童而角，实虹小子。
荏染柔木，言缗之丝。
温温恭人，维德之基。
其维哲人，告之话言，顺德之行。
其维愚人，覆谓我僭，民各有心。
於乎小子，未知臧否。
匪手携之，言示之事。
匪面命之，言提其耳。
借曰未知，亦既抱子。
民之靡盈，谁夙知而莫成。
昊天孔昭，我生靡乐。
视尔梦梦，我心惨惨。
诲尔谆谆，听我藐藐。
匪用为教，覆用为虐。
借曰未知，亦聿既耄。
於乎小子，告尔旧止。
听用我谋，庶无大悔。
天方艰难，曰丧厥国。
取譬不远，昊天不忒。
回遹其德，俾民大棘。

Solemn and reverent is the demeanor—the very corner of virtue.
Men have a saying: no sage is without his folly.
The folly of common men is indeed a disease;
The folly of the wise is also this very principle.

Nothing surpasses having worthy men; the four quarters will take them as guide.
Having bright and upright virtue, the four nations will yield to it.
Great plans settle the fixed decree; far-reaching counsels are timely proclaimed.
Be reverent and careful in demeanor, for the people's rule depends on it.

But now in the present, you rise in confusion over governance.
You overturn your virtue, abandoning yourself to wine.
Though you follow after drunken pleasure, you do not think of your inheritance.
You do not seek broadly the ways of former kings, to reverently uphold the bright laws.

Therefore Great Heaven no longer favors,
Like that flowing spring—do not all sink and perish together.
Rise early and sleep late; sprinkle and sweep the courtyard within—
Be the model of the people.
Repair your chariots and horses, bows and arrows, armor and weapons,
To prepare against the outbreak of war, to repel the barbarous regions.

Stabilize your people; be careful in your princely statutes,
To guard against the unforeseen.
Be careful in your words; be reverent in your demeanor—
Nothing should be other than gentle and good.
The flaw on a white jade scepter may still be polished away;
The flaw in these words cannot be undone.

Do not speak lightly; do not say "just this once."
No one holds my tongue, but words cannot be recalled.
There is no word without a response, no virtue without a recompense.
Show grace to your friends, to the common people and the young.
Sons and grandsons continuing in unity, all the people will submit.

See that your companions are gentlemen; make your countenance gentle and mild,
That you may not stray into error.
When you are alone in your chamber, still be not ashamed before the spirits of the dark.
Do not say "It is not bright, no one sees me."
The spirits come and go—they cannot be fathomed;
How then can you be weary of them?

Develop your virtue; make it good and beautiful.
Be benign and careful in your conduct; do not err in propriety.
Without transgression and without harm, few will not take you as a model.
He who casts me a peach will be repaid with a plum.
That one without horns yet boasting horns—truly deceives the young.

The pliant and pliable wood can be strung with silk.
The mild and reverent man is the foundation of virtue.
If he is a wise man, tell him words of counsel, and he will follow them in virtue's way.
If he is a foolish man, he will turn and say I am wrong—each man has his own mind.

Alas, young man, you know not good from bad.
Not only did I lead you by the hand, I showed you how to act.
Not only did I instruct you face to face, I pulled your ear.
If you still claim ignorance—you already hold a son in your arms.
Men are not complete; who knows early yet achieves late?

Great Heaven is brightly manifest, but I have no joy in life.
Seeing you dull and dreamy, my heart is sorely grieved.
I instruct you with utmost earnestness, but you listen to me with disdain.
Not treating it as teaching, you even turn it into sport.
If you still claim ignorance—by now you are already old.

Alas, young man, I tell you the ways of old.
Listen and use my counsel, and you will have no great regret.
Heaven is now bringing hardships, saying it will ruin your state.
The comparison is not far to seek—Great Heaven errs not.
If you pervert your virtue, you will plunge the people into great distress.

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Meaning

This is an admonitory poem from the Book of Poetry, traditionally attributed to Duke Wu of Wei, who wrote it as a warning to himself and to the royal house. It stresses self-restraint, careful speech, dignified conduct, and the unity of personal virtue with good governance. The repeated address to a "young man" combines political remonstrance, family discipline, and personal self-examination.

慎密庄重的仪容，是德行的外在表现。古人曾有言，没有明哲不显愚钝。常人的愚，本是一种疾患。智者的愚，却合于这个道理。无可争的是得贤人，四方都会效法他。有正直德行，四邻都会顺服他。宏大谋划定天命，长远计谋及时告。敬慎你的威仪，是百姓的准则。看如今之时，朝政迷乱盛行。败坏其德行，沉溺于酒中。你虽纵乐相从，不念祖先功业。不去广求先王之道，能恭行明法。故而皇天不佑，如那泉水奔流，莫相率而亡。早起晚睡，洒扫庭堂，是百姓的榜样。修整你车马、弓箭兵器，用以警戒战事，用以远逐蛮方。安定你的百姓，谨守你的法度，用以戒备不测。谨慎你的出言，敬重你的威仪，无不温和美善。白玉上的斑点，尚可磨去；这言语的污点，却再难弥补。不要轻易发言，莫说随意之语。没有人按住我的舌，话一出便不可收回。没有言语无应答，没有德行无回报。施惠于朋友，以及庶民小子。子孙绵绵不绝，万民无不承顺。看你所交的君子，和柔你的容颜，莫近于有过失。独处在室中，尚且不愧于屋漏神明。莫说暗处不明显，没人能把我看清。神明的降临，不可测度，怎可怠慢不敬。开辟你的德行，使它善使它美。美好谨慎你的举止，不违于礼仪。不差错不伤害，少有不为人楷模。投给我桃，报他以李。那无角却生角的羊，实在惑乱了小子。柔韧的良木，可安上丝弦为琴。温温恭谨的人，是德行的根基。那明智的人，告知他以善言，便顺德而行。那愚昧的人，反而说我差错，人心各有不同。唉呀小子，不知善恶。不仅手把手教，还指点其事。不仅当面命，还提耳相告。假称不知，也已抱子为人父。人没有全满之知，谁早知而晚不成。昊天明察甚昭，我生也无欢乐。看你昏昏不明，我心惨惨不乐。教诲你恳切，你听我渺渺不闻。不用作教诲，反用作戏虐。假称不知，也已年将老。唉呀小子，告诉你旧日的善道。听用我的谋略，或许无大悔。天正降下艰难，将使国家丧亡。取喻不必远求，昊天不差毫厘。回邪其德行，使百姓大遭困急。

Appreciation

The poem stands as the foremost ancestral text of Chinese admonition and family instruction. Its famous lines—"The flaw on white jade can still be polished; the flaw in speech cannot be undone" and "Cast me a peach, I repay with a plum"—have become proverbial. Written in twelve stanzas, it systematically covers reverence in demeanor, caution in words, vigilance in solitude, and wise governance. The tone is earnest yet stern, blending tender concern with sharp warning, and it profoundly influenced later didactic literature.

【白话串讲】 “抑抑威仪，维德之隅”——诗经《抑》：庄重的威仪，是德行的表里。“人亦有言，靡哲不愚”——“庶人之愚，亦职维疾。哲人之愚，亦维斯戾”——“敬慎威仪，维民之则”——他劝人修养德行。【意象与手法】规模宏大的十二章讽谏诗，“白圭之玷，尚可磨也；斯言之玷，不可为也”强调谨言；“投我以桃，报之以李”喻礼尚往来；“诲尔谆谆，听我藐藐”叹听者漠然。融修身、为政、家训于一体，格言警句层出，语言质实而意蕴深远。【情感与主旨】旧题卫武公作以自警并儆戒王室，被誉为“千古箴铭之祖”。既见西周贵族的教化理念，也预示说理诗与讽谕诗的演进方向，“不愧屋漏”衍出修身术语，深入儒家心性之学。【名句点睛】常考“白圭之玷，尚可磨也；斯言之玷，不可为也”以玉玷可磨喻言之不可失；“投我以桃，报之以李”以桃李喻礼尚往来。

Background

According to the Guoyu (Discourses of the States), Duke Wu of Wei composed this poem as a self-warning in his old age. Mao's Preface further explains that it was intended to admonish King Li of Zhou and also to caution himself. The poem therefore combines the duties of a minister, a father, and a sage elder. Set in the late Western Zhou, it reflects the crisis of ritual order and the aristocratic ideal of linking personal cultivation to the fate of the state.

《抑》是《诗经·大雅》中的讽谏诗，旧题卫武公作以自警并儆戒王室。《国语·楚语》载卫武公作懿（即抑）以自儆，是先秦文献中明确系年的诗作之一，足见其地位。诗名抑，毛传训为慎密，全诗以此立意，劝人（及君王）谨言慎行、敬慎威仪。理解抑，先要明白它的双重性质：它既是臣对君的讽谏（戒王室），又是父对子的家训（戒小子），更是士大夫的自我箴铭。这种三重身份叠合，使抑成为先秦贵族政治伦理与修身观念的集大成之作。诗中那个反复被呼唤的「小子」，既是年轻的周王，也是武公的子嗣，更是所有需要被教诲的后人。全诗十二章，规模宏大，格言警句层出，从明德慎行、敬慎威仪，到谨言、知人、修身、孝友，几乎涵盖了一个君子立身行事的全部准则。尤其值得注意，它把个人修养与治国平天下直接挂钩，体现出西周贵族「修身—齐家—治国」一体贯通的政治伦理。读懂抑，要先把卫武公放回那个礼崩乐坏、却仍有人苦口婆心维系周礼的西周晚期，才能体会这十二章箴言里，藏着的是一个老臣对王朝命运最深的眷恋。十二章的篇幅本身，就是一种姿态：诗人有太多话要留给后人，威仪、言语、德行、知人、慎独，他一条也不肯漏，因为这套伦理，是西周立国三百年的根本。

Art

The artistry of the poem lies in its fusion of argument and lyricism. It is structured in twelve clear movements: first establishing the general principle of virtue and demeanor; then alternating between warnings against bad conduct and exhortations for diligent governance; and finally intensifying the personal grief of the teacher toward an unheeding listener. The imagery is concrete: jade, peach and plum, wood and silk, the dark corner of the room. The repeated address to the "young man" gives a dramatic, almost theatrical voice to the didactic content.

《抑》的艺术，首要在于它把说理与抒情熔于一炉，是诗经中罕见的格言诗。全诗十二章，章法井然：前数章讲明德慎行、敬慎威仪，立起修身的总纲；中数章反复叮咛「小子」，由外（威仪、出话）及内（屋漏、不愧），由言（慎尔出话、白圭之玷）及行（投桃报李、温温恭人）；末章以回遹其德、俾民大棘示警收束。这种层层递进的章法，像一位长者把人生经验一条条摊开，既有温厚之讽，又有严正之诫。其次是用喻精警：白圭之玷，尚可磨也；斯言之玷，不可为也，以玉上斑点可磨、言语污点难补，写慎言之重要；投我以桃，报之以李，以果实相报写礼尚往来。第三是视角与语气的丰富：有居高临下的训诫，有苦口婆心的劝导，有恨铁不成钢的慨叹，也有设身处地的提耳。第四是重章与呼告的运用：匪手携之、匪面命之、言提其耳，三层递进写出教诲之恳切。抑之妙，在它把枯燥的说理，写成了一首有温度、有性情、有声音的训诗。更难得的是，这十二章虽是训诫，却绝无说教的干瘪——每一个道理都附着一个具体的物象（玉、桃、木、室），让抽象的德，落在看得见的地方。

Allusions

The poem has generated several enduring cultural tropes and idioms. "The flaw on white jade" became the standard trope for caution in speech; "cast a peach, repay with a plum" evolved into the idiom tou tao bao li, meaning to return a favor; "not ashamed in the dark corner" (bu kui wu lou) became a key term in Confucian self-cultivation, central to the idea of vigilance in solitude (shendu). As a genre, the poem is the archetype of both the admonishment (zhen) and the family instruction (jiaxun), exerting influence through the Yan Family Instructions and beyond.

《抑》的用典与影响，集中体现在它凝练出的若干文化母题与成语。白圭之玷一喻，自此成为慎言的代名词，后世「白圭之玷」作为成语沿用至今，及于碑铭、家训、奏议；投我以桃，报之以李则凝为「投桃报李」，成为汉语表达礼尚往来的固定词汇。相在尔室，尚不愧于屋漏一句，衍出「不愧屋漏」这一修身术语，深入儒家心性之学（如《中庸》言「君子之所不可及者，其唯人之所不见乎」，正与此同旨）。至于诗中敬慎威仪、靡哲不愚等，皆为后世箴铭、家训所反复取用。在文体上，抑已具后世箴铭与家训的雏形，其说理与抒情结合的路数，下启扬雄《法言》、王符《潜夫论》及历代家训（如《颜氏家训》）。朱熹称其正大明白，直指人之情性，足见其在儒家教化传统中的地位。可以说，抑是中国「箴铭文学」与「家训文学」的共同鼻祖，其影响渗透进中国人的道德话语深处。从一句慎言的玉喻，到「不愧屋漏」的修身术语，抑的每一颗种子，都在后世文化的土壤里长成了大树。

Commentary

Scholars have long valued this poem as the "ancestor of a thousand admonitions." Zhu Xi praised it as "proper, grand, clear, and directly speaking to human temperament." Modern scholars see it as a concentrated expression of Western Zhou aristocratic virtue-politics, where the ruler's personal demeanor is the standard for the people. The famous line "I teach you earnestly, but you listen to me disdainfully" captures the eternal tragedy of good counsel unheeded. The poem's style is warm yet stern, and it marks an important evolution from epic praise to reasoned admonition in the Book of Poetry.

《抑》在诗经学中的地位，向以其「千古箴铭之祖」的身份被推重。前引《国语》明载卫武公作懿以自儆，使此诗成为少数有明确作者与作意可考的诗经篇什，尤为可贵。毛诗序谓《抑》是卫武公刺厉王、亦以自警，朱熹《诗集传》承其说，并赞其正大明白，直指人之情性。历代论者多注意到，此诗价值不在文学想象的奇丽，而在它把西周贵族的政治伦理与修身智慧，系统地说成了一首诗——它既是讽谏的范本，也是家训的雏形，更是自我反省的镜鉴。尤其「诲尔谆谆，听我藐藐」一句，写出教诲者与听受者之间的巨大落差，道尽忠言逆耳、良药苦口的千古无奈，至今读来仍令人莞尔而心惊。近世学者更从政治文化角度读抑，认为它是西周「贵族德性政治」的集中表达，诗中把个人威仪与「维民之则」挂钩，正是「君子之德风」思想的诗化。无论系年如何，论者无不重其温厚而严正之风——既见西周贵族的教化理念，也预示了诗经之后说理诗与讽谕诗的演进方向。读懂抑，便知中国文人「文以载道」「诗以教人」的传统，早在三千年前的这首训诗里，就已立下了雏形。抑的伟大，在于它用最温厚的语气，说出了最严正的道理——劝人向善，却从不居高临下地骂，而是把手搭在对方肩上，一句句说完。

Prosody

Form Shijing Daya, four-character meter dominant, twelve-stanza long admonition诗经·大雅，四言为主，十二章长篇箴铭体讽谏诗

Rhyme Stanzas change rhyme according to meaning: the first stanza rhymes yu (corner), yu (folly), li (principle); the second stanza rhymes xun, shun, gao, ze; later stanzas rhyme on ge and li; rhymes follow the shifting layers of warning.各章随义换韵，首章隅、愚、戾相叶，二章训、顺、告、则相叶，中多换韵，白圭、玷、李、棘等各叶其部，韵随训诫层次流转。

Tone pattern The Book of Poetry predates tonal prosody; the base is four-character two-beat lines, with occasional longer insertions to heighten the admonitory tone.诗经本无后世平仄，以四言二拍为主骨架，章末或加长句以助告诫语气，吟咏之间自然成韵，非唐人格律所能范围。

Reading note This is a poem of instruction, so its rhythm carries the weight of a teacher's speech. The four-character base is varied by longer exclamatory lines that slow the pace, as if each word must be weighed. Rhymes shift with each new phase of counsel: solemn rhymes for demeanor, crisp rhymes for speech, urgent rhymes for the young man, and heavy rhymes for the final warning. The repeated use of direct address and progressive structure—showing with the hand, instructing face to face, pulling the ear—gives the verse an increasing emotional intensity, culminating in the sorrowful reflection of an old man whose words are ignored.抑的声律，和它的身份一样特别——它是一首「训诗」，所以它的节奏不是抒情诗的悠扬，而是教诲语的郑重。全诗以四言二拍为基，但常在章中插入长句（如白圭之玷，尚可磨也；斯言之玷，不可为也），把规整的节拍拉长，造成一种慢条斯理、字字掂量的语气，正好配合长者训话的节奏。韵脚随训诫的层次换易：讲威仪用端重之韵，讲慎言用清警之韵，讲小子用恳切之韵，讲示警用沉郁之韵。最妙的是那些呼告与递进：匪手携之、匪面命之、言提其耳，三层递进展开，声音也由温和到急切，像一位父亲越说越激动。若用近体诗格律去量，这些长句与换韵都不合规矩，但抑的格律是教诲的格律——它要的不是美听，而是让每一句劝诫都落进听者心里，重得像玉上的玷，磨不掉。

Line by line

白圭之玷，尚可磨也；斯言之玷，不可为也。

The flaw on a white jade scepter can still be polished away; the flaw in these words cannot be undone.

白玉上的斑点，尚可磨去；这言语的污点，却再难弥补。

A flaw in the white jade may still be ground away; a flaw in this speech cannot be undone.

这是抑中最亮的警句，也是中国文化里慎言之训的源头。白圭是白玉，玷是斑点；白玉上有了斑点，尚可磨去；而言语一旦有了污点（说错的话、失当的言），却再难弥补。诗人用玉与言对比，玉之伤可修，言之伤不可逆，把慎言的重要性写得触目惊心。这个比喻之巧，在于它取人人皆知的玉器（贵族日用之物），以最具体的物象说最抽象的修身之理。更妙在尚可磨也的「尚」字——连玉玷都只是「尚可」磨，而言玷是「不可为」，轻重立判。这一句之所以能凝为成语流传三千年，正因它把道理说到了骨头里：话出口，便再也收不回。

This is the brightest aphorism of the 'Exhortation' and the source in Chinese culture of the discipline on guarded speech. The 'white jade' is fine jade, a 'flaw' a spot; a spot on the white jade may still be ground off, yet once speech has a flaw (a wrong word, an ill-considered saying), it cannot be repaired. The poet contrasts jade and speech: the jade's injury can be mended, the speech's injury is irreversible, writing the importance of guarded speech with shocking vividness. The art of the metaphor lies in taking the well-known jade object (the aristocrat's daily use) to say the most abstract principle of self-cultivation through the most concrete thing. Most exquisite is the 'may still' of 'may still be ground away'—even the jade's flaw is only 'may still' be ground, while the speech's flaw is 'cannot be done,' the weight judged at once. The reason this line condensed into an idiom circulating three thousand years is that it speaks the truth to the bone: once a word leaves the mouth, it can never be taken back.

投我以桃，报之以李。

He who casts me a peach will be repaid with a plum.

投给我桃，报他以李。

He throws me a peach; I answer with a plum.

这是抑中另一颗流传千古的种子，今作「投桃报李」。投我以桃，别人赠我桃子；报之以李，我回赠李子。诗人以果实相报，写人际交往中礼尚往来的常理——受人恩惠，当思回报；一来一往，关系才得长久。这句妙在极朴素又极准确：桃与李都是寻常果物，交换之间毫无算计，只有人情的自然流转。它本是用来劝君王「投我以善，当报以善」的政治隐喻，却被后人抽离出来，成了汉语里表达感恩回报的固定词汇。一个比喻，从庙堂的讽谏，走到百姓的口头，正说明它说中了人情最普遍的真理。

This is another seed of the 'Exhortation' that has traveled the ages, now the idiom 'throw a peach, return a plum.' 'He throws me a peach' means another gives me peaches; 'I answer with a plum' means I return plums. The poet uses the exchange of fruit to write the common principle of reciprocity in human relations—receiving a favor, one should think of returning it; only in giving and taking does the relation endure. The line is exquisite in being at once plain and exact: peach and plum are common fruits, the exchange without calculation, only the natural flow of human feeling. It was originally a political metaphor urging the ruler—'if you throw me goodness, return goodness'—yet was later drawn out of context to become the fixed Chinese phrase for gratitude and return. A metaphor, moving from the court's remonstrance to the people's mouths, precisely because it names the most universal truth of human feeling.

诲尔谆谆，听我藐藐。

I instruct you with earnestness, but you listen to me with disdain.

教诲你恳切，你听我渺渺不闻。

I teach you, oh, earnest and untiring; you hear me, oh, distant and unheeding.

这是全诗最令人心碎的一句，写教诲者与听受者之间的巨大落差。诲尔谆谆，我教诲你，恳切而耐心；听我藐藐，你听我，却渺渺茫茫、漫不经心。谆谆是热，藐藐是冷，两词对照，把一个苦口婆心的长者，和一个充耳不闻的少年，活画出来。这一句之所以动人，因为它道尽了忠言逆耳、良药苦口的千古无奈——不是道理不对，是对面的人不想听。卫武公写此，既有对年轻周王的失望，也有对所有「不听老人言」的慨叹。三千年后的父母师长，仍会在这一句里看见自己的影子。

This is the most heart-breaking line of the poem, writing the vast gap between the teacher and the listener. 'I teach you, oh, earnest and untiring'—I instruct you, earnest and patient; 'you hear me, oh, distant and unheeding'—you hear me, yet far off and inattentive. 'Earnest and untiring' is warmth, 'distant and unheeding' is cold, the two words set against each other, living-painting the painstaking elder and the deaf youth. The reason the line moves is that it exhausts the age-old helplessness of loyal words offending the ear and the bitter medicine's taste: not that the argument is wrong, but that the person opposite will not listen. When Duke Wu of Wei wrote this, there was at once disappointment in the young King of Zhou and a sigh for all who 'will not listen to the old.' Three thousand years later, parents and teachers still see their own shadows in this line.

相在尔室，尚不愧于屋漏。

When alone in your chamber, still be not ashamed before the spirits of the dark corner.

独处在室中，尚且不愧于屋漏神明。

When you are in your chamber, oh, still be not ashamed before the inner shrine.

这是抑中写慎独的一句，也是儒家心性之学的重要源头。相在尔室，说独处在房室之中；尚不愧于屋漏，说尚且不愧于屋漏之神明（屋漏指室西北隅，古代设神主之处，引申为神明）。诗人劝人：即便独自一人、无人看见，也要对得起自己的良心与神明，不可因暗处而放纵。这一句把修身从「对人」推进到「对己」、从「公开」推进到「独处」，是慎独思想的最早诗化表达。后世「不愧屋漏」成为成语，及于《中庸》莫见乎隐、莫显乎微的发挥。四个字，立起中国君子人格最内在的标杆——人在暗处，心在明处。

This is the line in the 'Exhortation' on watchfulness over oneself alone, and an important source of Confucian inwardness. 'When you are in your chamber' means dwelling alone in the room; 'still be not ashamed before the inner shrine' means still not being ashamed before the deity of the inner corner (the 'inner shrine' the northwest corner of the chamber where the ancestral tablet was set, extended to mean the divine). The poet exhorts: even when alone, unseen, you must answer to your own conscience and the divine, and not give rein to yourself in the dark. This line advances self-cultivation from 'toward others' to 'toward oneself,' from 'in public' to 'in solitude,' the earliest poetic expression of the idea of watchfulness in solitude. Later 'unashamed before the inner shrine' became an idiom, developed in the 'Doctrine of the Mean' as 'nothing is more visible than the hidden, nothing more manifest than the subtle.' Four characters erect the innermost standard of the Chinese gentleman—when a man is in the dark, his heart is in the light.

Study

Word focus

抑 Suppression / self-restraint; Mao's commentary glosses it as 'careful and meticulous,' meaning to be solemn, reticent, and not wayward. The entire poem revolves around this 'caution'—in demeanor, speech, and virtue. 抑本有慎密、收敛之意，毛传训为「慎密也」，即庄重缄默、不放肆。诗人以之为题，全诗即围绕「慎」字展开——慎威仪、慎出话、慎德行。一个抑字，是全诗的眼，也是西周贵族修身的核心德目。它不像「刚」「勇」那样张扬，而是一种向内收敛的力量，恰是乱世中君子自守的姿势。这个看似平淡的题名，其实定下了整首训诗内向、沉静的基调。

威仪 Demeanor / dignified deportment. It is the outward manifestation of inner virtue, especially important for a ruler or noble, as seen in 'solemn demeanor is the corner of virtue.' 威仪指容止仪表、外在的庄重。诗中抑抑威仪、维德之隅、敬慎威仪，皆以威仪为德的外现——人的内在德行，要从外在的仪容举止显露出来（隅是墙角，喻德之外见）。威仪二字，是西周「德—礼」一体观的浓缩：修身不只修心，也要修容。它是贵族立身的门面，也是「维民之则」的表率，一个君子的威仪，就是百姓的准则。

玷 A flaw or blemish on jade. Used metaphorically for a defect in speech. The image is powerful: a jade defect can be polished away, but a spoken error cannot be undone. 玷是玉上的斑点、瑕疵。白圭之玷以玉玷喻言过，把抽象的「说错话」具象为一处可见的伤。玷字选得狠：玉本无瑕，一点玷便毁了全体，正如一言既出便污了全身。它让慎言之理有了视觉的冲击力，也使「白圭之玷」成为后世沿用不绝的警语。一个玷字，把言语的分量，说到了让人不敢轻开的程量。玷字从玉，本指玉上斑点，诗人偏以玉玷反比言玷，足见对言语的警畏。玉伤尚可磨，言伤不可为，一轻一重之间，把慎言之理说到骨头里。后世白圭之玷凝为成语，碑铭家训奏议多引之，皆本于这一句对出言的慎重。读懂玷，便读懂中国人何以把说话看作一件要用一生小心的事。

屋漏 Literally 'the leak in the roof,' referring to the northwest corner of the room where the ancestral shrine stood in ancient times. It came to mean the spirits or the 'dark place' unseen by others, and thus a symbol of solitude and inner conscience. 屋漏本指室之西北隅（古代设神主、祭祀之处），引申为神明所在、暗处之代称。不愧于屋漏，即独处暗室也对得起神明。屋漏二字，把修身从公共场所拉进最私密的空间，是慎独思想的诗化符号。它后来凝为成语，成为儒家心性之学的核心意象之一，中国人讲「暗室不欺」，源头正在这两个字里。屋漏本为室隅设神主之处，诗人却把它变成暗处之代称，劝人独处也对得起神明。不愧屋漏四字，把修身由公开推入私密，是慎独思想最早的诗化。中庸言莫见乎隐莫显乎微，正与此同旨；后世暗室不欺之语，源头也在这二字里。读懂屋漏，便读懂君子何以在无人处更不敢松懈。

小子 'Young man' or 'little one'—a term of address from an elder to a younger person. Here it may refer to a young king or the poet's own son, embodying the dual nature of political admonition and family precept. 小子指年轻的受教者（此处兼指年少之周王与武公子嗣）。诗中反复呼唤「小子」，是长者对后辈的称谓，带着恨铁不成钢的疼与急。小子二字，让一首政治讽谏诗，有了家训的温度——它不只是谏君，更是教子，是把一个老人的经验，掰开揉碎递给下一代。这两个字里，有威严，也有心疼。小子在诗中反复出现，是长者对后辈的呼唤，带着疼与急两层意味。武公既以此戒王，亦以此教子，一词而兼讽谏与家训两用。读懂小子，便读懂抑为何史称千古箴铭之祖：它把最严正的道理，说成最亲近的叮咛，让听者纵使藐藐，也终会在某一天忽然听懂。

抑